Private Eastern Brisshal Heroes Do More Than Kill Goblins and Drink Ale

[Toko]

.

.

"It's not that bad..."

A white lie, but it was true that the neighbors who had seen Nao grow up always checked up on the woman. There was also the two ceramic crafters of the village, who were more than happy to see Nao whenever she came over to photograph their work and collect the pieces for the online orders, although her karate sensei had passed on shortly before her grandmother. She couldn't really say that she was truly alone... but the sad reality was that, soon, everyone she truly cared for in the village would be following in her own grandmother's footsteps.

Eventually she would be all alone.

"A-Ah, uun." There was a small nod of affirmation before she felt his hands move away from her back, the giant instead choosing to sit besides the Lepus as Toko shifted to a sitting position herself. "... it really does feel like a whole new world."

One I wouldn't mind living in forever...

The thought resurfaced again, before the rabbit pushed it back to the corners of her mind as she listened to Brutus. His offer seemed genuine and earnest, earning a soft giggle from the Lepus, before Toko's hands flickered through the hub of her UI in the air. Her fingers would seem to stop and tap at areas in the air, Toko going through the settings, before an alert would pop up on Brutus' own UI.

"I'd like that... arigatoo, Brutus."

Notice

Toko has sent you a friend request.

@Brutus Dhalgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

The Felis could tell the woman was lying. It was just the way her voice sounded as hollow as his before, the small little personal ticks in her ears and face. It broke his heart. He would watch as she fiddled with her UI and then the friend request would pop up.

Hastily accepting the friend request, Brutus would shoot the Lepus a beaming grin. He would stand up and casually stretch, yawning ever so slightly as he did so. "No, thank you Toko." He would give her a warm smile, reaching down to pat her on the back. "I get the feeling that this is the start of a brilliant and beautiful friendship." He would grab his clothes, banishing his shirt to the UI dimension and shrugging on his jacket over his bare chest before going about sliding on his boots.

"I wonder if the stars are out yet?" He would muse as he laced his boots out. He would turn back to her once her more. "Shall we go check?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

His grin was contagious, so much so that the Lepus found her own smile brightening just a little bit more before chuckling softly. "I think so too... I'm glad I logged on today and decided to help out with the cleaning efforts." She took a moment to fiddle with her palm UI then, extracting her own shirt from the inventory.

The towel was once again draped over her shoulders after Toko had finished getting dress, walking besides the Felis as they headed out of the changing rooms and down the path they'd come through. She allowed Brutus to guide their trajectory, mostly because Toko herself wasn't quite sure as to where they were right now.

"Do you know a good place to see them from here?" Her interest was quickly piqued by his question, her eyes glancing up at the darkening sky above them. "I'm really curious to see how similar, or different, they are to ours."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I think I know a place." The giant looked down to the Lepus, then, with a mischievous grin, he would grab her by the waist and hoist her up into the air and onto his shoulders. He would take a couple steps down the path from the from the changing rooms. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, but he still had a hard time finding his way. He would summon a small fireball in his palm, using it like a torch to light the way.

"The only night I've ever spent in Terra was over at this place called a Power Stone." He would explain. "They're a cool little like, monolith thing out in the woods. The Clearings are gorgeous, AND they're safe zones so we don't have to worry about getting jumped by anything coming for us."

He would lumber through the forest for a while, probably about thirty or so minutes of making small talk with the Lepus before finally arriving in the clearing. It was about twenty or so feet in diameter, with a large ten foot stone that softly glowed blue in the center. He would reach the end and then reach up and grab the Lepus by the hips again, gently lowering her down to the grass.

"Eh?" He would ask, waggling an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Honton—eeep!"

Toko's words were cut off when Brutus suddenly grabbed her by the waist, a surprised squeak leaving the Lepus insted before Toko found herself hoisted onto the giant's shoulder. At first she was unbalanced, her legs pressing a little bit too hard against the sides of Brutus' torso as the Lepus feared accidentally tumbling off, but soon enough she managed to find her center of gravity once more as the Felis continued to walk down the steps.

There was a questioning look to her face as Toko looked down, unsure as to why Brutus was actually giving her a ride on his shoulders. "... nande?" After all, she had lost the bet during their mud wrestling.

"Power Stones...?"

The Lepus listened with attention as Brutus explained more about them, his descriptions vaguely causing Toko to remember seeing one of them out of the corner of her eye once while in her direction to Western Brisshal for some monster slaying... however it had been out of the way, and so the fighter had never investigated it.

"Eeeeeeh? Monsters won't approach them at all?"

The walk had been pretty short, Brutus' sense of direction safely guiding them to their goal... something Toko was glad of, the rabbit herself had a bad habit of getting lost when left by herself with a map she wasn't sure how to read. There was a gasp of surprise as they arrived, even from their position the monument stood out impressively in the middle of the clearing as the soft blue glow emanating from the structure gave the whole area a mystic feel.

"Uwaaah... it's so big!"

A few giggles escaped the Lepus when Brutus reached up for her again, tickled by the sudden touch, before she turned to nod affirmatively at he Felis questions.

"It's a pretty cool place... I never knew there were clearings like this one completely devoid of monster dangers."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"You see," Brutus mused with a shit eating grin. "I was gambling nothing on that mud match, because as a tall guy I relish the notion of putting people on my shoulders. It truly embodies the tall man's experience." He would chuckle, having truly scammed the poor rabbit woman.

"Yeah monsters won't touch it, I think it's coded to be a safe place for people to log out. Magia apparently need to recharge their magic n shit, so they sleep out here if they don't have a charging port."

He would find himself walking towards the massive runestone and sitting down, pressing his back against it. He would give the ground next to him a gentle slap. "I've had to use it once, me and my partner Corsair got into some shit once. Mini boss tier Hemomancer, dude rocked out shit but we managed to beat his ass. When it was all said and done our bars were fucked, so I staggered our asses over here and passed out with her. I woke up feeling like death, but we were perfectly safe"

He would let his eyes wander to the starts, peering to the stars. "Damn..." He would mutter, taking in the majesty of the night sky. "That's fucking gorgeous."

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Zurui..."

There was a pout on her lips as the Lepus gave Brutus a deadpan stare, crossing her arms over her chest as the lion revealed how nothing had truly been wagered in his side. Still her upset state did not last long, the Lepus eventually coming closer to inspect the monument herself as Brutus regaled the story of how he and Corsair had first come here.

"Eeeh, that must have been a really strong monster if both of you were so tired at the end."

A hand carefully touched the surface of the glowing stone, the energy pulsing within feeling warm to the though, before Toko m oved to sit down on the patch of grass Brutus had patted moments before.

"Ah, kireiii...!"

It was the first time since playing that the Lepus had actually gotten the chance to stargaze in game, her real time schedule often making it hard for Toko to be connected at these hours, and the sight was absolutely beautiful. Honestly these skies could even rival the ones back home in the real world, and the rabbit's eyes almost sparkled in childish wonder as she continued to gaze at the many stars that littered the night sky.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Don't be like that." He grinned patting her on the head. "You asked for what you wanted, and I, being willing to wager it, wagered it. Just because I happened to wager something I liked doing doesn't mean you asked for it, and might I add, got it even though you lost. I am a great senpai like that." He stuck his tongue out at her for a moment teasingly.

He would let her enjoy the moment, as he too was getting lost in the stars. After a quiet moment of contemplation he would break the silence.

"It's wild, I didn't even get to enjoy this view the last time I was here. Too fucking exhausted." He would shake his head, grimacing at the notion. "And yeah, he was strong as fuck, roided out on stolen wolf blood that had him looking like fuckin...Bane or something. I had to slice him in half with a blade made of flame..." He didn't relish the memory of seeing the deadman flash before his eyes.

"But I'm spoiling the moment. Do you recognize any of these stars?"

Crickets would idly chirp in the background as the wind rustled the trees and the grass, creating a soft whooshing to accompany the bugs. Off in the distance, a long wolf howled at the moon, and several owls would occasionally hoot. It was like a symphony of the night unraveling before the Felis' ears, one he's never truly tuned into.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Mmm. I gueeess."

She relinquished that one point in his direction, but not without sticking her tongue back out at the man as he patted Toko's head.

"Ah, you mean like the one you used on the orc hag today?" His description of the tool used to finally vanquish the Bane like hemomancer instantly triggered a memory from their own battle, Toko turning her head to look at the lion instead of the stars now. "It kinda looked like a light ssaber now that I think about it."

At his question regarding the celestial bodies Toko looked upwards once more, her brow furrowing lightly in thought. "Mmm, they don't feel exactly unfamiliar... but no, I can't spot one that I actually recognize." Then again she had never ben that good finding them back home, often her grandmother would need to point them out before Nao could actually find the figure they made in the sky.

"Mmm..."

A content smile rested on her lips, the Lepus having closed her eyes as her ears began to pick up the natural symphony of the night... a lullaby for the player considering it was quite similar to the nightly sounds of her own village—without the howling wolf, unfortunately. A soft breeze passed by, softly caressing her cheeks, and Toko almost hummed in delight

"This is a really nice place..."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"A Lightsaber eh?" He'd never really thought of it that way, more like a laser than anything else. Maybe if you squinted you could call it a lightsaber. "If you squinted really hard maybe." He would look down to the Lepus, and then with a quick motion he would take off his jacket and drape it over the Lepus like a blanket as the wind caused a light chill in the air.

"I can't seem to recognize any of them either, but that might be the north star?" He would reach up to point into the night sky, vaguely in the direction of a bright star. "Maybe, it could just be a really bright star or somethin." His hand still in the air, he took a deep breath, drawing on a mix of his own magical energy and the ambient energy in the air. He would exhale slowly, then inhale, in and out repeating the process as he slowly, using pyromancy, raised the temperature of his body. His skin would begin to glow a light orange and he would begin to radiate heat.

"This place really is nice."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"A-Ah, arigatoo... won't you get cold, though?"

A puzzled look crossed the rabbit's face when Brutus shifted to remove his jacket, the Lepus surprised as he draped it over her own shoulders. The garment was giant, especially when compared against Toko's frame, and yet she found the warmth that still radiated from the fabric was rather delightful against her skin.

"Uuuhmmm... maybe? I don't know if this world has one, but it kinda looks like the one in our world I guess?"

He soon answered her question, albeit with words, as to how he would keep from getting chilly in this night air. "Whoa... you can do that?" It was interesting to feel how the heat increased to her side, the skin on his arm glowing a faint orange as Brutus showed a rather curious application of his own mastery.

"Mmm... I guess cold climates won't ever be an issue for you then, huh?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"It's a trick with my Pyromancy, I basically channel some fire in my blood and heat myself up. It has it's ups and downs though. This will drain my mana bar steadily, so if I do it too much I won't be able to do any other magic. It will also, if not balanced properly, cause me to overheat." He shrugged. "It's a neat party trick I learned in order to help master a more subtle control of my flame. If I rock it too hard I can burn myself or raise my internal temperature enough to cause serious problems."

He would squint at the stars some more, trying to see if he could find the big dipper or something. "I haven't found anywhere super cold, but I imagine it would take more work to heat myself up, thermodynamics n shit. In order to raise somethings temperature a singular degree, you have to introduce an amount of energy equal to it's specific heat if I recall correctly. If I wanted to raise my temperature from really cold to normal, the amount of energy I would need to use would go up dramatically."

The giants realized he'd just gone on one hell of a tangent, and chuckled sheepishly. "My bad, that's probably killing the moment eh?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Iie, that's actually really cool."

She had listened intently as Brutus had shared how he controlled his Pyromancy to influence the temperature of his body, the concept of using this world's magic in such a way actually quite fascinating for Toko. "It's incredible how varied the magic in this world can be, and how flexible too." She wasn't an expert in games, but even Nao knew that many had a lot of restrictions to what a user could and could not do already coded into the software... but is seemed that wasn't the case within the game of TerraSphere 2.

"Mmm... considering how real this place is I probably should get some warm adventuring clothes, just in case I'm ever around a really cold place."

Unlike Brutus the Lepus certainly did not have any such skills to mitigate environmental temperatures.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I can always keep you warm if we're adventuring together."

It wasn't till the giant had spoke that he realized that his completely innocent statement could have been taken an entirely different direction. It was too late to take it back, and to stammer over it would risk making things worse than they actually were. Instead, he just let the statement rock, adding.

"Warm clothes are good though, I'm suprised that someone who looks like a snow bunny doesn't have any like...cold weather passives." He would lower his extended finger back down to his lap and let the sound of silence fill the air once more, relishing in the melody of crickets.

"As for magic, I've used this pyromancy in a lot of neat and unique ways, it seems like if you turn off the auto settings you can just sort of make anything you want happen if you work it the right way. It's like...the game has handed us tools and wood, and told us build whatever we want with it."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

Badump...!

The words caused Toko's cheeks to flush slightly, unsure about how she should take that particular comment, before the additional statement by the Felis helped fill in any possible misunderstandings. "Not all rabbits live in, or are equipped for, cold weather you know..." Truth be told the idea hadn't really even crossed her head, after all Toko hadn't known how real this game would feel until actually stepping into it.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool that the game allows for so much freedom..." She had discovered that part of the settings shortly after beginning to play, having turned any helpful assists off in order to experience everything by her own, though even after the revelation from the Lion Arms the Lepus hadn't bothered to revisit them. "... although sometimes I get kinda stuck with my own magic, though I guess that's my own fault."

Probably due to her own inexperience with games before this one... Nao just wasn't sure how far she could take things at times.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"It's kinda like exploring the forest." Brutus explained. "You don't really know what you're doing or where you're going at first, but once you get the hang of it? You'll be finding all sorts of cool things!" He grinned, turning his eyes from the stars to look down at her.

"You just have to be patient and all of the cool shit will come naturally! You just have to be ready and willing to put yourself out there and try all sorts of crazy ideas. I'm thinking about how I can use my pyromancy to fly."

He leaned his head back against the power stone, letting the magic thrum through him keeping his mana topped off as he kept his power going.

"It's moments like this that make this game so magical..." he would muse aloud, his eyes back to the sky. "Really makes the real world seem like garbage in comparison."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"To fly...?" There was a moment of pause as the Lepus actually tried to conceive how pyromancy could lead Brutus to that, before the rabbit broke into a fit of soft and quiet chuckles. "Ah, gomen gomen, I'm not laughing at you... that just really surprised me, I promise."

Toko's also leaned backwards to rest against the surface of the stone, her back able to feel the thrumming vibrations as it slowly leaked mana towards them and making the fighter feel relaxed. "I agree, this world is full of so many awesome things... I wouldn't mind living here forever." It was a thought that had been playing in her mind for a while now, though Toko had been careful to keep it inside her mind for the most part.

She must have truly been feeling tired for that thought to slip out out loud like that without the Lepus realizing it.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Eh?" He would turn and look at her, raising an eyebrow. "Toko, we can't just escape into this game forever. It might be beautiful and fun...but we have lives we need to live. No matter how bad it might get IRL...we have a reason we're alive." He would ruffle her hair.

"I mean...even if you feel alone. You've got me here and IRL, I'm just a message away."

A knot began to form in his stomach. That was a sentiment he'd felt already once before, and to him it almost felt like a suicide note. Like the call to the void, wanting to stop being who they were and be something else. To cease existing.

The Ego death of one for another.

"I mean, if you're so lonely, you could just pick up your roots and fuck off somewhere else. The world is your oyster. You don't have to feel like just because you lived in one place your whole life you're doomed to die there. I travel all over the US on a regular basis."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

... fuck! Did I say that outloud?!

She hadn't meant to let the words slip, had almost been sure that part had only been in her head, but one look at Brutus and his reaction confirmed to Toko she had indeed slipped up. "A-Ah, no, I was just saying this is a really nice world...!" She tried to backpedal a bit, to not have the words sound so ominous and depressing... last thing she needed was her new friend thinking Toko had to be placed on a suicide watchlist.

"I'm not going to go around recklessly looking for danger or anything like that," Truly, she wasn't looking to do a DA speedrun any time soon, the Lepus was certain of that much. "... but compared to the real world, with works and bills and bullshit, well... I think I'd prefer running around all day helping the Landers in Honeyhome and playing with magic than figuring out if I did my taxes correctly for the year."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I can get that." He would lean down to her. "But like, also, I'm sorta doing the diet hero thing IRL too. I cruise around the US, garbed up in armor and pretend I'm a hero for people who are all just as desperate to escape the world we live in as you." he chuckled. "Maybe you should look into a career change? If you're not happy, you have the power to make those changes. It might be scary, but I would rather have my life be a single day of doing something I want to do over immortality doing some tedious bullshit that pays bills but leaves me with no passion."

"We don't have to live our lives in ways we don't want to, is what I guess I'm trying to say." He would lean back up. "Either way, it's getting kinda late. You want me to walk you home?"

@Toko